Seth
"You really don't have to stay," I say.
"Do you want to be alone?" she asks.
"Well, no but-"
"Then I'll say. Why don't you have your siblings come over?" she says.
I nod and send them a message. They turn up with Hadley and Xavier.
"Where's Caleb?" Hadley asks.
"Counsellor meeting," I say.
Melinda hugs my siblings.
"I'm so sorry about your parents," she says.
"Thank you," Athena says.
They settle in on either side of me, snuggling close to me. Caleb comes back with food around lunchtime. Athena and Grayson have fallen asleep on either side of me. Melinda stands up to help Caleb with the food. He lightly kisses me.
"The twins showed up huh?" he asks, gesturing to my siblings.
Xavier and Hadley left a bit ago.
"Your mom's idea," I say.
"It was a good idea," he says.
His mom hands him two plates. He places one on my lap.
"Thanks, Mom," he says.
"Of course sweetheart. Do you need anything else?" she asks,
"I think we're good," he says.
"Thank you for staying," I say.
"Anytime," she says, leaving the room.
I eat some food, Caleb watching me intently. Athena and Grayson wake up.
"Are you hungry?" I ask.
They shake their heads, leaving together. I sigh. Caleb sits next to me.
"What's up?" he asks.
I set my plate aside. I look at him, tears welling in my eyes.
"Seth?" he asks, worry showing on his face.
"I-I have to stay this so just let me get this out ok?"
He nods.
"I lost my parents, my pack. But-" I pause and take a deep breath before continuing. "But if I had lost you, I wouldn't have been able to go on. Losing my parents and my pack, it's painful, it hurts. But I can get through it, I can help my siblings get through it because I have you. You give me strength. If you were gone, I couldn't live with that loss. And I'm just so glad that you survived. That you're still mine even though I'm hurting and grieving, even though I tried to push you away, you still didn't give up on me."
I touch the crescent moon around my neck.
"It means more than I can possibly say. I can be myself with you and that means everything. I love you Caleb."
He lays next to me and pulls me into his arms.
"I love you too Seth. I'm always here for you. I'm glad you feel comfortable enough to tell me these things. I want to be the person you can let your guard down with," he says.
"You are. Honestly, you're the only one I can do that with. I get alone with you and everything else that's been building up, I can let it out with you," I say.
I roll on top of him and kiss him. I nuzzle his neck and he sighs.
"There are things I can only do with you too, like this, the cuddling, the snuggles, the nuzzling, it goes against everything my order is, but with you it doesn't matter, my order doesn't matter, it's just us," he says.
"I agree," I say.
I kiss him again. He wraps his arms around me. I wrap my arms around his neck, our kiss deepening. I tug at his shirt, wanting it off. He stops me.
"Are you sure?" he asks.